a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand tool for the shovelling of debris, particularly snow and ice, having a flexible portion along its handle so as to permit limited flexion of the handle when lifting a load.
The invention also relates to a hand tool as described above, where the handle is collapsible or retractable.
b) Description of prior art
Hitherto, it has been common to mount a blade on a handle to form a tool which may be used for shovelling.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,177,072, 1,177,073, 1,267,915, 1,930,000, 2,047,485, 3,401,971 relate to shovels which have collapsible or retractable handles of various designs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,860 relates to a shovel having a vibrator mounted between the handle and the blade so as to increase its digging efficiency.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,954 relates to a snow shovel having a telescoping handle and a detachable blade. A compression spring extends lengthwise within the handle. This spring is mounted so as to compress under load or shock from striking an object submerged in the snow. When the shovel is lifted, the spring decompresses and assists in discharging the load.
In the snow remover art, U.S. Pat. 4,550,943 relates to a snow remover with a collapsible handle.
In the broom art, U.S. Pat. No. 645,988 relates to a handle which has a slit lengthwise along it whereby the handle absorbs the initial shock when sweeping.
It is recognized that one of the problems associated with such devices is that they are associated with back pains due to the stiffness of the handle. Indeed, because of such stiffness, the user of the shovel has to absorb all the force fluctuations associated with lifting a load and discharging it. Particularly, when the user lifts a load with a given force and this load is greater than anticipated, he or she does not have the opportunity to adjust to the new load gradually and thus risks injury when lifting a load of unknown weight.